Vertical reducer



April 29, 1958' w. P. CHMITTER' "2,832,230

VERTICAL REDUCER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1957 I Hi INVENTOR.Walter P. SCHMITTER 3 fun-01) April 29, 1958 w. P. SCHMITTER 2,832,230

VERTICAL REDUCER Filed Oct. 10, 1957 -2 SheetsSheet 2- 672$ \QWW/I/ Fig.3.

INVENTOR.

Walter P. SCHMITTER 9% QimoQ;

VERTICAL REDUCER Walter P. Schmitter, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignor to TheFalk Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of WisconsinApplication October 10, 1957, Serial No. 689,286

4 Claims. (Cl. 74-467) The invention relates to speed reducers and moreparticularly to a vertically disposed speed reducer.

For satisfactory operation, the running parts of a speed reducer shouldbe kept lubricated and the main object of this invention is to provide avertically disposed speed reducer constructed and arranged to. provideefficient lubrication to the and shafting thereof. More particularly,the invention resides in incorporating a gear pump in the top plate ofthe reducer unit with an intake for the pump connected with a body oflubricant in the gear housing and with a discharge of the oil into theupper portion of the housing to lubricate other parts of the unitoperating above the body of the lubricant.

. The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter setforth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a speed reducer embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. l, the speed reducer selected for illustrationincludes a housing formed by a bottom mounting and support member 4 acylindrical metal side shell 5 having upper and lower metal rings 6 and7 welded thereto, a top plate or panel 8 suitably bolted to the top ring6, and a bottom plate or panel 9 which is clamped by stud bolts 10, onebeing shown, between the bottom ring 7 and the upper surface of themember 4, these parts forming an oil-tight housing. An auxiliary panel11 is bolted to post 12, welded to the panel 9. The top panel 3 has adepending portion 13 offset from its center provided with a laterallyextending ledge or shelf 14.

An oil circulating pump P is mounted on the top of the top panel 8. Anysuitable oil pump of compact construction may be used, and forillustration I show a gear type pump including a main housing 15, endplates 16 and 17 secured to the housing on opposite sides thereof, aneccentrically disposed ring gear 18, a displacement pinion 19 meshingwith the ring gear and a crescentshaped battle 18a. The pinion 19 issuitably keyed to the upper end portion of a drive shaft 20 which alsodrives the speed reducer unit. The pump housing has an intake passage 21and oppositely disposed discharge passages 22 and 23 which communicate,respectively, with passages 24 and 25 leading to opposite ends of avalve chamber 26 with a ball valve 27 working in said chamber 26 andadapted to close one or the other of said passages depending upon thedirection of rotation of the shaft 20. With the above construction, asthe pinion 19 is revolved and moves into mesh with the ring gear 18, theoil between these interineshing gears is forced out into one or theother of the passages 22, 34 or 23 and 25 past the valve 27 and into adischarge passage 28. The intake passage Til connects by a passage 21ain the panel 8 with 2,832,239 Patented Apr. 29, 1958 an intake pipe 29extending down into the housing to a point below the normal oil levelline 30 therein.

The drive shaft Ztl is journalled in a bearing 31 mounted centrally ofthe panel 8 and a bearing 32 mounted in the ledge 14, there being aspacer sleeve 33 interposed between a shouldered portion of the shaftand the bearing 32. Beyond the shelf or ledge 14 the shaft 20 has apinion 34 keyed thereto and meshing with a large gear 35 suitablysecured and keyed to a transmission shaft 36.

The transmission shaft 36 is journalled in a tapered roller bearing 37journalled in the panel 11 and in a tapered roller bearing 38 in thelower panel 9 which has a cap plate 39 indicated as bolted to it.

A driven shaft 49, having an exposed lower end for keyed connection withthe part, such as an agitator, not shown, or other mechanism, to bedriven is journalled in a tapered roller bearing 41 in the panel 11 andin a tapered roller bearing 42 in the panel 9.

The tapered roller bearing 42 is preferably separately lubricated bysuitable lubricant grease, introduced by a suitable grease gun into thethen open passage 43 in the support member 14 which connects with arecess 44 in said member in communication with said bearing. To retainthe grease about the bearing 43, a sealing or slinger ring 45 is mountedabove the same to rotate therewith. Oil from the housing is preventedfrom getting into this hearing by a ring guard 46 secured to the panel 9and extending above the oil level 30.

The shaft 36 has a pinion 57 formed integral there with or securedthereto meshing with a large gear 43 suitably keyed to the shaft andheld with the ring between the inner races of the bearings 41 and 42.With the above construction rotation of the drive shaft 20 acts throughthe interrneshing gears 34 and 35 to provide one speed reduction to thetransmission shaft 36, and the intermeshing gears 47 and 48 providesanother speed re duction to the driven shaft 40, it being noted that thepinions 3d and 47 are smaller diameter gears. As the shaft 2% rotates,the pump P is driven through the displacement pinion 19 to raise oilthrough the pipe 29, passages 2la and 21 to the pump gears which thenact to discharge this oil to one or the other of the outlet passages inthe pump housing to the pump discharge passage 28 which connects with adischarge opening 49 in the panel 8 and with a duct or passage 54leading to a recess 5'1 above the bearing 8 to supply lubricant to thisbearing. Lubricant from the opening 4-9 then flows down onto and overthe shelf 14 to lubricate the bearing 32 and the gears below the sameand overflows onto the top of the panel 11 to lubricate the bearing 4-1and also some of the lubricant from said shelf falls on the top surfaceof the web of the gear 35 which has a series of radially disposedopenings 52 therein to allow oil to flow therethrough onto the panel 11adjacent the bearing 37 to lubricate that bearing and also the gears 47and 48 below the same. The lower bearing 38 for the shaft 36 rotates inthe oil bath provided in the housing as above described. Thus all thegears and the bearings for their shafts are provided with a circulatorysource of lubricant except the separately lubricated bearing 42.

It is to be noted that the shaft ZO is disposed above and axially alinedwith the driven shaft 40 and that the shelf or ledge 14 may be used as asupport for an additional transmission shaft to provide for anotherreduction gear train between the shaft 20 and the shaft 38 in someinstances.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited toany particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as suchlimitations are included in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is: p

1. In a speed reducer unit, the combination of a vertically disposedhousing having closures at opposite ends thereof and providing a sealedenclosure, a drive shaft journalled in the upper portion of saidhousing, a driven shaft journalled in the lower portion of said housingand reduction gear drive connections between said shafts, a gear typelubricant pump mounted on the top of the upper closure and having one ofits gears mounted on said drive shaft and having an intake passage and adischarge passage extending through said top closure, a conduitextending from said intake passage to the lower portion of said housingbelow the level of a bath of lubri cant therein, said discharge passageopening into the upper end of said housing to furnish lubricant to thoseparts of the reducer disposed above said oil level.

2. The speed reducer unit as defined in claim 1, wherein the drive shaftis journalled in. spaced bearings carried by said upper closure and theupper one of said bearings is furnished with lubricant from saiddischarge passage by a conduit connecting said discharge passage withsaid bearmg.

' 3. The speed reducer unit as defined in claim 1, wherein the driveshaft is journalled in spaced bearings, one of which is mounted on ashelf depending from the main portion of said top closure, and thedischarge passage is disposed above a portion of said shelf.

4. In a speed reducer unit, the combination of a vertically disposedhousing having closures at opposite ends thereof and providing a sealedenclosure, the upper end of said enclosures carrying spaced bearings,one of said bearings being mounted in a shelf depending from the mainportion of said upper enclosure, a drive shaft proing an extended endforconnection with a part to be driven, a gear on said driven shaft betweenits bearings, said transmission shaft provided with a gear meshing withsaid pinion to provide a first reduction and with a pinion meshing withthe gear on said driven shaft to provide another reduction, a gear typeoil pump mounted on the top of: said upper closure and having one of itsgears direct connected to said drive shaft and having an intake passageand a discharge passage extending through said top closure, a conduitextending from said intake passage to the lower portion of said housingbelow the level of a path of lubricant therein, said discharge passageopening into the upperend of said housing above said shelf, the gear onsaid transmission shaft being mounted to revolve in the space betweensaid shelf and panel and provided with openings permitting the passageof lubricant on said shelf to the upper portion of said panel to supplylubricant to the bearings disposed therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,290,813 Ploeger July 21, 1942 2,669,881 Skidmore Feb. 23, 19542,793,714 Luenberger May 28, 1957 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF CGMMERCE PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,832,230 Walter P.Schmitter April 29, 1958 It is hereby certified that error appears inthe printed specification of the above numbered patent requiringcorrection and that the said Let oers Patent should read as correctedbelow.

Column 3, line 30, after "upper", strike out "end"; column 4, line 20,for "path" read bath Signed and sealed this 17th day of June 1958.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL Ho AXLINE ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Officer Conmissioner ofPatents

